Abstract
An internal kink instability is observed to grow and saturate in a line-tied screw pinch plasma. Detailed measurements show that an ideal, line-tied kink mode begins growing when the safety factor drops below 1 inside the plasma; the saturated state corresponds to a rotating helical equilibrium. In addition to the ideal mode, reconnection events are observed to periodically flatten the current profile and change the magnetic topology.
- Received 1 August 2005
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.015004
©2006 American Physical Society